There was something in the air -- jcarolek

I had to laugh. I had never considered the possibility that a 125 member choral society would sing, “Splish Splash, I was taking a bath!” as their encore for their concert. But that is exactly what they sang and it was great! The audience loved it and it was the perfect ending to a great matinee performance of songs from the 50’s 60’s and 70’s.

My husband, who accompanies me to these things under some presumption of my expecting him to do so, but who would much prefer to stay at home catching the college football games, or reading a book, or making a puzzle, or….well…almost ANYTHING…actually loved the concert! He said it was the first time he’d been to one of these concerts or shows (since he met me nine and half years ago) that he has actually known all of the songs.

I also noted that we elected to attend the matinee performance, rather than staying up and attending the one that began at 8 PM…hubby likes to head to bed by about that time, so, I suppose we are officially and forevermore part of the “blue hair” audiences. No problem for me!

So it was that we listened to choral renditions of Beach Boys, Beatles, Bee Gees, Abba, and more. But it was during the Abba medley that I was thrown back to vivid memories of a brief friendship.

I was working in DC at the time, a fresh college graduate and working in an environment with lots of new grads and current students. Two of my co-workers were exchange students from Costa Rica. Jose and Fernando. Both were dynamite soccer players and a group of us enjoyed going to watch their college inter-mural matches at Georgetown University.

One night, on the way home from a soccer match, Fernando had an accident on his motorcycle. Though he survived the accident, he was in terrible shape and we all did what we could to help save his life. Donating blood and praying was about all we had to offer. It was not enough and some twelve days after the accident, Fernando passed away.

This afternoon when the choir sang, “There was something in the air that night, the stars were bright, Fernando. They were shining down for you and me, for liberty, Fernando…” I closed my eyes and saw his youthful, smiling face, and knew, as I remembered our short friendship, that I will always carry that smile in my heart and occasionally, it will find its way all the way to my mind, in the form of a memory and a song.